Daniel Radcliffe to play US journalist investigating Japanese underworld in 'Tokyo Vice'

Daniel Radcliffe is to play the lead role in the film adaptation of "Tokyo
Vice", the real-life experiences of Jake Adelstein, an American
journalist who waded dangerously far into the murky waters of Japan's
underworld.

Daniel Radcliffe is to play the lead role in the film adaptation of "Tokyo Vice"

Adelstein co-wrote the screenplay for the movie, which will be directed by Anthony Mandler, with filming expected to get under way in Tokyo in the early part of 2014.

Adelstein - who grew up on a farm in Missouri - was the first American to get the crime beat at the Yomiuri newspaper in Tokyo, although the job did bring him into direct conflict with Tadamasa Goto, one of Japan's most notorious and ruthless gangsters.

The death threats escalated after Adelstein revealed that Goto and three other yakuza had undergone liver transplants in the United States after doing a deal with the FBI to provide information on the activities of other Japanese underworld groups in the US.

"Daniel read the book last year, said that he really liked it and said he wanted to do the project," Adelstein told The Daily Telegraph. "One of the things that impressed me from the outset was that he said he wanted to learn Japanese to play the part.

"Initially I was not sure about him for the role, but once he said that, showed such an interest in journalism and was just so enthusiastic about the whole thing, then I thought he would be great for the role."

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After reading the book, Radcliffe said he was most impressed by the scene in which Adelstein is going through his stacks of business cards to work out who he might have "put in harm's way," he said.

"I want to try to arrange for Daniel to spend a day following a Japanese reporter so he can see how much of a grind the job can be," Adelstein said. "I hope the film is able to portray both the good and bad of Japanese journalism.

"I would say that the hardest thing for Daniel is going to be speaking Japanese and making it sound like he has been doing that for a long time," he said. "But he has done a lot of good work and I think this will be a nice change for him."

Radcliffe, the former star of the Harry Potter movies, has been busy since graduating from Hogwarts and has recently completed the horror title "Horns". He has also just agreed to star in a remake of "Frankenstein."